Hyderabad: 

After a relatively quiet start to 2025, the Kerala film industry is gearing up for a massive box office explosion. Mohanlal’s much-awaited film, L2: Empuraan, is all set to release in less than a week. The Indian film industry is likely to witness a surge at the box office, this time from an unexpected quarter -- Malayalam cinema. Mollywood, often celebrated as the "content factory" of Indian cinema, is now making waves on a national level.

L2: Empuraan Breaks Records in Advance Booking

The film’s advance booking opened at 9 AM on March 21, and by 10:30 AM, it had already set a record, selling 96,000 tickets per hour—a first for an Indian film before its official release. What makes this even more astonishing is that the bookings outside Kerala have barely begun. Once they open nationwide, the numbers are expected to cross the 100K/hour mark, a historic moment for Malayalam cinema.

For years, Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films have dominated the box office with record-breaking numbers. But few would have imagined that a Malayalam film would outpace all others in advance bookings. However, L2: Empuraan has done exactly that!

645K+ Tickets Sold in 24 Hours

On March 22, the makers of L2: Empuraan announced on social media that the film had sold over 645,000 tickets within 24 hours of pre-sales opening in India. This marks the highest number of tickets ever booked for an Indian film on BookMyShow in the first 24 hours. With this record-breaking achievement, L2: Empuraan has surpassed films like Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan, Prabhas' Kalki 2898 AD, and Thalapathy Vijay's Leo.

Makers Celebrate the Record-Breaking Response

Director Prithviraj Sukumaran, who also plays a key role in the film, couldn’t hide his joy. He shared a selfie with Mohanlal from a flight, captioning it: "Taking off like our advance bookings! ❤️"

Riding on this wave of excitement, the filmmakers released a brand-new poster featuring Mohanlal with the tagline: "Biggest Mollywood Opening Worldwide is just the beginning. March 27th, be prepared."

Mollywood's First IMAX Release

Another major achievement for L2: Empuraan is its IMAX release. Mohanlal starrer will become the first-ever for a Malayalam IMAX release. Prithviraj had previously stated that the film was not shot using full-format lenses for he preferred to maintain an anamorphic 1:2.8 aspect ratio for the trilogy. However, with the use of modern IMAX mastering technology, the film has been adapted for an IMAX release.

Biggest Pan-India Film from Malayalam Cinema

Unlike Tamil and Telugu, Malayalam cinema hasn’t traditionally focused on big-budget entertainers. However, L2: Empuraan changes that perception. The makers have mounted the second one in the trilogy on a grand level following the humongous success of Lucifer (2019), the first installment in the franchise. The film collected a huge audience all over India through its dubbed version in TV and streaming media. With this established fan base, Empuraan stands to pull large crowds from all over the nation.

Team Empuraan

Directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, L2: Empuraan boasts an impressive cast. Mohanlal returns as Khureshi-Ab'raam / Stephen Nedumpally while Prithviraj stars as Zayed Masood, the "Emperor’s General". Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier, Indrajith Sukumaran add more power to the impressive ensemble. International actors Jerome Flynn, Eriq Ebouaney, and Andrea Tivadar are also roped in to play pivotal roles in L2: Empuraan.

L2: Empuraan is all set to hit screens on March 27 in Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil languages. The film is expected to redefine the reach and impact of Malayalam cinema, and if the current trends are anything to go by, this could mark the beginning of Mollywood’s dominance in Pan-India films.

L2: Empuraan is jointly bankrolled by Mohanlal's Aashirvad Cinemas, Sree Gokulam Movies and LYca Productions. Sujith Vaassudev returns as the cinematographer from the first installment of the franchise, along with music composer Deepak Dev. Akhilesh Mohan has been brought in as the editor for the film.

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